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New York State Education Department 



MINUTES OF A MEETING 



OF THE 



NEW YORK STATE EXAMINATIONS BOARD 



HELD AT THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT IN THE CAPITOL, 
ALBANY, JANUARY ia, 1907 



H348n-F7-2ooo (7-2052) 



LJ> i o 



AUG 24 1907 
D.ofD. 



MINUTES, JANUARY 12,1907 

In response to a call issued 'by the Commissioner of Edu- 
cation under date of December 24, 1906, the New York 
State Examinations Board assembled at the Commissioner's 
room in Albany at 9.30 a. m., January 12, 1907, all members 
being present excepting Chancellor Day who failed to attend 
on account of the pressure of other business, and Assistant 
Commissioner Downing who was absent because of serious 
illness. 

At the opening of the session the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion read the following extracts from the records of the Board 
of Regents to indicate the function of the Board and the 
reasons for its establishment: 

RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCA- 
TION TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS APRIL 26, 1906 

It has seemed to me for a long time that something 
should be done to bind our system of preliminary and aca- % 
demic examinations and our s>stem of schools more closely 
together, and to make the examinations more expressive of 
the feeling and more promotive of the progress of the 
schools. If this can be done at all it must be done in the 
preparation of the questions. . . 

Again, it is obviously desirable to share the responsibility 
for the trend and character of the examinations in some 
measure with the men and women who are actually engaged 
in the daily work of the schools, particularly of the advanced 
schools, if that can be done without interfering with the 
integrity or lessening the efficiency of the examination system. 

Accordingly, a plan embracing the organization of a State 
board, composed of leading teachers and superintendents 
which would prepare the questions or in some way assume 
responsibility for them has been under advisement for more 
than a year, and had matured sufficiently in the minds of the 
leading officials of the Department to justify submitting it to 
the consideration of the conference of college representatives 
recently held. The whole matter was very thoroughly con- 
sidered, occupying the larger part of two sessions of the 
conference, and resulting in the offering of the following 
resolution, which was unanimously adopted : 

" That this conference expresses its opinion that it is desir- 
able for all the educational interests of the State, not only 



with a view to perfecting the examinations system, but also 
with a view of bringing the responsibility for educational 
standards home to every prominent educational factor in the 
State, — that the Education Department perfect a plan for a 
State board of representative college, secondary and ele- 
mentary school men to prepare question papers for the 
examinations held under the auspices of the State Depart- 
ment ; and that such plan be brought to the attention and 
consideration of the school superintendents and secondary 
school men of the State." 

It is clear that a move of this kind would be very welcome 
to the college men and would go far to secure their substan- 
tial participation in all of the activities of the State educational 
system. . . 

None of the details of a plan for the realization of this 
suggestion has been even tentatively settled, but in a general 
way it involves the creation by the Board of Regents of a 
State examination board composed of prominent superintend- 
ents and teachers who should, either directly or through 
committees or appointees, assume the responsibility of prepar- 
ing the questions in each subject, under such Department 
control as might seem advisable. 

REPORT OF A COMMITTEE ON EXAMINATIONS TO THE BOARD 
OF REGENTS, MADE AND ADOPTED JUNE 28, 1906 

With the common consent and approval of the State, em- 
bodied in its statutes and the ordinances of the Board of 
Regents and expressed in a general use extending through 
more than 40 years, the State academic examinations have 
been established to guide and stimulate teaching, to insure a 
worthy and definite degree of training and scholarship in the 
schools, and to standardize the requirements for teachers 
licenses, for admissions to training classes, training schools 
and normal schools, and, so far as may be, for all education- 
al credentials tor which the State assumes responsibility. 
That these examinations may be as truly representative as 
possible of the teaching in the best schools and be quickly 
responsive to progress in education, a New York State 
Examinations Board is hereby provided for. 

This board shall consist of 17 persons — the Commissioner 
of Education, the three Assistant Commissioners, and the 
Chief of the Examinations Division shall be ex officiis mem- 
bers, and the Commissioner of Education shall be chairman. 
Twelve other members shall be appointed by the Board of 
Regents, ordinarily at the time of the University Convoca- 
tion, four of whom shall represent the colleges and univer- 



sides, four the high schools and academies, and four the city 
superintendents. Only such persons as are engaged in 
teaching or in supervision in this State shall be members of 
the board. The appointive members shall serve for four 
years but the first appointees for each group shall serve for 
one, two, three, and four years, as designated by the Board 
of Regents. 

The functions of the Examinations Board shall be 
to appoint, with the approval of the Commissioner of 
Education, committees to prepare question papers 
for State examinations, and to advise with the 
Commissioner in respect to the form and contents 
of syllabuses covering the subjects of study in the 
elementary and secondary schools. 

This board shall serve without compensation, but the 
ordinary expenses incident to attendance upon meetings 
called by the Commissioner of Education shall be paid by 
the State. 

The committees appointed by the State Examinations 
Board to prepare question papers shall consist ot three per- 
sons each. One of each. committee shall be an officer of the 
Education Department ; the other two members, for pre- 
academic subjects shall be principals of elementary schools, 
and for academic subjects a college teacher and a secondary 
school teacher. Each teacher shall serve for one year and 
shall receive from the State the necessary expenses in attend- 
ing meetings of his committee in each year and an annual 
honorarium as follows : on preacademic subjects, English, 
Latin, Greek, history with civics and economics, mathe- 
matics, biologic science, and commercial subjects, $50 ; on 
German, French, Spanish and drawing, $40; on physics, 
chemistry and physical geography, $30. 

On the 25th of October 1906, the Board of Regents 
amended the foregoing report as follows : 

This board shall consist of 20 persons — the Commissioner 
of Education, the three Assistant Commissioners, and the 
Chief of the Examinations Division shall be ex officio mem- 
bers, and the Commissioner of Education shall be chairman. 
Fifteen other members shall be appointed by the Board of 
Regents, ordinarily at the time of the University Convoca- 
tion,^^ of whom shall represent the colleges and universities, 
five the high schools and academies, and^frv the city superin- 
tendents. Only such persons as are engaged in teaching or 
in supervision in this State shall be members of the board. 



The appointive members shall serve for five years but the first 
appointees for each group shall serve for one, two, three, 
faux, and five years, as designated by the Board of Regents: 

On the same date, in accordance with the recommendations 
of the Commissioner of Education, the Board of Regents 
made the following appointments to the State Examinations 
Board in addition to the five members representing the 
Education Department ex ofrlciis : 

Representatives of the State Education Depart- 
ment, ex officiis : 

Commissioner of Education, Andrew S. Draper, Chairman 
First Assistant Commissioner of Education, Howard J. 

Rogers 
Second Assistant Commissioner of Education, Edward J. 

Goodwin 
Third Assistant Commissioner of Education, Augustus S. 

Downing 
Chief of the Examinations Division, Charles F. Wheelock 

Representatives of the colleges : 

President Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia University, 

to serve 5 years 
President Rush Rhees of the University of Rochester, to 

serve 4 years 
Chancellor James R Day of Syracuse University, to serve 

3 years 
President David W. Hearn of the College of St Francis 

Xavier, to serve 2 years 
President A. V. V. Raymond of Union University, to serve 

1 year 

Representatives of the secondary schools: 

Associate City Superintendent Edward L. Stevens, in 
charge of high schools, New York city, to serve 5 years 

Principal Walter B. Gunnison, Erasmus Hall High School, 
Brooklyn, to serve 4 years 

Principal Frank Rollins, Stuyvesant High School, Man- 
hattan, to serve 3 years 

Principal Frank D. Boynton, Ithaca High School, Ithaca, 
to serve 2 years 



Principal L. F. Hodge, Franklin Academy, Malone, to 
serve i year • 

Representatives of the elementary schools : 

Superintendent William Henry Maxwell, New York city, 

to serve 5 years 
Superintendent Henry P. Emerson, Buffalo, to serve 4 

years 
Superintendent A. B. Blodgett, Syracuse, to serve 3 years 
Superintendent Charles E. Gorton, ^Yonkers, to serve 2 

years 
Superintendent Richard A. Searing, North Tonawanda, to 

serve 1 year 

The following list of topics proposed for discussion at this 
meeting had been prepared by a committee consisting of 
President Butler, City Superintendent Maxwell and Assistant 
Commissioner of Education Goodwin, in pursuance of a reso- 
lution adopted at an informal meeting of the board, held on 
the day following the University Convocation, October 27, 
1906. 

1 The selection of committees to prepare question papers 
in English, Latin, Greek, German, French, Spanish, history 
with civics and economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, 
biologic science, physical geography, commercial subjects, 
drawing, preacademic subjects 

2 The preparation of special question papers for commer- 
cial, technical and other schools 

3 Method of giving credit to notebooks in physics, chem- 
istry, physical geography and the biologic sciences 

4 Time limitation for reporting to schools the results of 
the examination 

5 Shall the State Department accept the ratings of the 
College Entrance Examination Board for academic creden- 
tials ? 

6 Shall the State Department accept for academic cre- 
dentials ratings hitherto attained in examinations set by the 
Superintendent of Schools of New York City ? 



7 Shall the question papers be submitted to a committee 
for^nal revision or approval? If so, how shall this com- 
mittee be appointed ? 

8 Shall the answer papers be rated in the school before 
they are sent to the Department ? 

9 Shall the theory upon which the answer papers are 
rated be determined by the committees of examiners ? 

io Miscellaneous business 

On motion of Superintendent Maxwell, Assistant Com- 
missioner Goodwin was elected secretary of the board. 

On motion of Superintendent Gorton, the following reso- 
lution was adopted : 

Resolved, That this board extend to Assistant 
Commissioner of Education Downing its regrets 
at his absence, sympathy in his sickness and the 
hope that he may speedily recover ; that we send 
this to him as a word of cheer and good will. 

Principal Gunnison presented the following resolution which 
was adopted : 

Resolved, That the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion be requested to appoint a committee of five 
consisting of two representatives of the State 
Department, one representative of the secondary 
schools, one representative of the colleges and 
one representative of the city superintendents to 
nominate the committees of examiners whose 
duty it shall be to prepare question papers for 
the academic examinations. 

In pursuance of this resolution, the Commissioner of Edu- 
cation made the following appointments : 

First Assistant Commissioner of Education Rogers 
Second " " Goodwin 

President Rhees 
Principal Gunnison 
Superintendent Blodgett 



Dr Maxwell presented the following resolution: 

Resolved, That it is the sense of the State 
Examinations Board that commercial and tech- 
nical high schools shall submit question papers 
in the special subjects taught in those schools 
for the consideration of the State Department, 
and that the answer papers, when rated, shall 
have the same relative standing as the answer 
papers written in answer to question papers pre- 
pared by the committees of the board. 

Assistant Commissioner Rogers offered the following sub- 
stitute which was accepted by Superintendent Maxwell : 

Resolved, That in the opinion of this board the 
special technical and commercial high schools of 
New York city should have separate examina- 
tions in certain specified subjects to be adapted 
to the course of study and methods of conduct- 
ing the same ; and that the chairman appoint a 
committee of three to arrange the details gov- 
erning this procedure to be reported to the Com- 
missioner of Education and to be subject to his 
approval and the approval of the Regents. 

This resolution was defeated by a vote of 10 to 5. 

Superintendent Gorton then presented the following reso- 
lution : 

Resolved, That in the judgment of this Board 
it seems likely that certain technical and com- 
mercial schools will require some special exami- 
nations and that the attention of the Board of 
Regents be respectfully called to this subject, to 
the end that the policy of the State may in the 
largest measure be helpful to these special 
schools. 

After a protracted discussion this resolution was adopted 
by a vote of 10 to 4. 



IO 



After a temporary adjournment |for luncheon, the com- 
mittee appointed to nominate committees of examiners made 
the following report, which was unanimously adopted : 

Committees of examiners appointed by the State 
Examinations Board and confirmed by the 
Commissioner of Education 

English 

Emma L. Johnston, Principal Training School for Teachers, 
Brooklyn 
Adelphi College, A.B. 
Laura J. Wylie, Professor of English, Vassar College 

Vassar, A.B. ; Yale, Ph.D. 
Mae E. Schreiber, Instructor in English, State Teachers 
Institutes 

Latin 

Josie A. Davis, Morris High School, New York city 

Boston University, A.B. 
Henry F. Burton, Professor of Latin, University of Roch- 
ester 

University, of Michigan, A.M. 
Vera Thompson, Examiner in Latin, Education Depart- 
ment 

Cornell, Ph.B. 

Greek 

Abraham R. Brubacher, Principal of High School, Sche- 
nectady 

Yale, B.A., Ph.D. 
Newton Lloyd Andrews, Professor of Greek, Colgate 
University 

Colgate, A.B., A.M. ; Hamilton, Ph.D. ; Chicago, 
LL.D. 
Ezra J. Peck, State Inspector of Schools 
Williams, A.B. ; Hobart, LL.D. 

German 

Alexis V. Miiller, Lockport High School 
Ohio Normal University, A.M. 



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Herman C. G. Brandt, Professor of German, Hamilton 
College ' 

Hamilton, A.B., Ph.D. 
Julia B. Kellogg, Examiner in Modern Languages, Educa- 
tion Department 
Syracuse, Ph.B. 

French 

Elwin A. Ladd, Principal High School, Batavia 

Cornell, Ph.B. 
John L. March, Adjunct Professor of Modern Languages, 
Union University 

Lafayette, A.M., Ph.D. 
William B. Aspinwall, State Normal College 

Harvard, A.B. ; State Normal College, Pd.M. ; Univer- 
sity of Paris, Ph.D. 

Spanish 

Alfred M. Cardenas, Central High School, Buffalo 
Mexico City National College 



John T. Fitzpatrick, Education Department 
Cornell, A.B. 

History and economics 

J. Herbert Low, Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn 

Amherst, A.B., A.M. 
William H. Mace, Professor of History and Political Sci- 
ence, Syracuse University 

University of Jena, Ph.D. 
Eugene W. Lyttle, State Inspector of Schools 

Hamilton, A.B., Ph.D. 

Mathematics 

Arthur M. Scripture, Principal^ of High School, New 
Hartford 

Hamilton, A.B., A.M. 
Robert D. Ford, Professor of Mathematics, St Lawrence 
University 

St Lawrence, B.S., M.S. 



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Charles F. Wheelock, Chief of Examinations Division, 
Education Department 

Cornell, B.S. ; St Lawrence, LL.D. 

Physics 

George M. Turner, Masten Park High School, Buffalo 

Amherst College, B.S. 
Edward L. Nichols, Professor of Physics, Cornell University 

Cornell, B.S. ; University of Gottengen, Ph.D. 
Irving P. Bishop, State Normal School, Buffalo 

Alfred University, M.S. ; Fellow of the Geological Soci- 
ety of America 

Chemistry 

Robert W. Fuller, First Assistant in Physics and Chemis- 
try, Stuyvesant High School, New York city 
Harvard, A.B., A.M. 
Arthur P. Saunders, Professor of Agricultural and General 
Chemistry, Hamilton College 

Toronto University, A.B. ; Johns Hopkins, Ph.D. 
Everett O'Neill, Senior Examiner in Science, Education 
Department 
Cornell, Ph.B. 

Biology 

George F. Hargitt, Syracuse High School 

Syracuse University, Ph.B. ; University of Nebraska, 
A.M. 
Maurice A. Bigelow, Professor of Biology, Teachers' Col- 
lege, Columbia University 

Ohio Wesleyan, B.S. ; Northwestern, M.S. ; Harvard, 
Ph.D. 
Arthur G. Clement, State Inspector of Schools 
Rochester, A.B. 

Physical geography 

Frank L. Bryant, Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn 

St Lawrence University, B.S. 
Albert P. Brigham, Professor of Geology, Colgate Uni- 
versity 

Colgate, A.B. ; Harvard, A.M. 



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Charles T. MacFarlane, State Normal School, Brockport 
Michigan State Normal College, M.Pd. ; New York 
State Normal College, D.Pd. 

Commercial subjects 

James J. Sheppard, Principal High School of Commerce, 
New York city. 
Harvard, A.B. 
Joseph F. Johnson, Dean School of Commerce, Accounts 
and Finance, New York University 
Harvard, A.B. 
Isaac O. Crissy, Senior Examiner in Commercial Sub- 
jects, Education Department 

Drawing- 
Harold H. Brown, Stuyvesant High School, New York city 
Student, one year, Lowell School of Design, Boston ; 
diploma, four years, Massachusetts Normal Art School, 
Boston ; student, two years, ficole des Beaux Arts, 
Paris 
Clarence A. Martin, Professor of Architecture, Cornell 

University 



Eugene C. Colby, Examiner in Drawing, Education 
Department 

Student, three years, Boston Normal Art School 
On motion of Associate City Superintendent Edward L. 
Stevens, it was, 

Voted, That the committee of five designated 
to nominate the committees of examiners be 
empowered to fill such vacancies in these com- 
mittees as may occur hereafter through declina- 
tion or other cause. 
. On motion of Superintendent Maxwell, it was, 

Resolved, That in the organization of the com- 
mittees of examiners the representative of the 
secondary schools in each committee shall be 
chairman and the representative of the Educa- 
tion Department, secretary. 



H 

The following resolution presented by Principal Gunnison 
was unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion be authorized to appoint a committee of 
final revision, consisting of seven members of the 
board, to pass upon preacademic and academic 
question papers prepared by the committees of 
examiners. 

In compliance with this resolution the Commissioner of 
Education made the following appointments for the calendar 
year 1907 : 

President David W. Hearn, College of St Francis Xavier 

Superintendent A. B. Blodgett, Syracuse 

Associate City Superintendent Edward L. Stevens, New 

York city 
Principal Frank Rollins, Stuyvesant High School, New 

York city 
First Assistant Commissioner of Education, Howard J. 

Rogers 
Second Assistant Commissioner of Education, Edward J. 

Goodwin 
Third Assistant Commissioner of Education, Augustus S. 

Downing 

On motion of Superintendent Maxwell, it was, 

Resolved, That it is the sense of the State 
Examinations Board that each committee of 
examiners shall draw up and transmit to the 
Department with each question paper or group 
of such papers a statement of the principles in 
accordance with which the corresponding answer 
papers should be rated, with the understanding, 
however, that this shall not be binding upon the 
Examinations Division in rating the answer 
papers. 



On motion of Superintendent Emerson, it was, 

Voted, That a committee of three, of which 
Assistant Commissioner Downing shall be chair- 
man, shall be authorized to appoint committees 
to prepare the preacademic question papers. 

In accordance with this vote, the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion made the following appointments : 

Assistant Commissioner of Education, A. S. Downing 
Superintendent C. E. Gorton, Yonkers 
Superintendent Henry P. Emerson, Buffalo 

On motion of Superintendent Maxwell, it was, 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this board 
that ratings obtained in the examinations of the 
College Entrance Examination Board shall be 
accepted in whole or in part for State academic 
credentials on a basis to be established by the 
Education Department, in lieu of examinations 
conducted by the State Examinations Board. 

On motion of Superintendent Maxwell, it was, 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this board 
that ratings obtained hitherto in examinations 
conducted by the Board of Superintendents of 
New York City shall be accepted by the Educa- 
tion Department for academic credentials in lieu 
of ratings obtained in examinations conducted 
by the State Examinations Board. 

On motion of Superintendent Maxwell, it was, 

Resolved, That the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion be authorized to appoint a committee of 
five to prepare a plan of certification for college 
entrance, to be submitted for consideration of the 
State Examinations Board at a future meeting. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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029 456 736 

In pursuance of this resolution the Commissioner 01 ttau- 

cation made the following appointments : 

First Assistant Commissioner of Education, Howard J. 

Rogers, Chairman 
President Nicholas Murray Butler, Columbia University 
Chancellor James R. Day, Syracuse University 
President Rush Rhees, University of Rochester 
City Superintendent William H. Maxwell, New York city 

Secretary 



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